“I paid off the remainder of your contract,” he said quickly, before he could stop himself. Across from him, Volkmar went very still. “So you can stay as long as you’d like.”
“I... I don’t understand,” Volkmar stammered, brows furrowing. “What do you mean? Paid it off?”
“I paid everything you owed to Madam Crowe,” Adrissu said, glancing away nervously. “So you are no longer under a contract with her. You don’t have to work there anymore.”
Volkmar stared at him silently for a long moment, eyes wide. First he was perfectly still, then slowly his hands came up to cover his mouth, though his eyes were still locked on Adrissu.
“Why? Why would you do that?” he finally managed to ask, pulling his hands away only to press his fingers to his temples, an obvious sign of stress.
How could he explain? Somehow he thought that telling Volkmar that he was the reincarnation of his former lover, and that they were fated to be together, would not go over well at the moment.
“I don’t know,” he said, then shook his head. “I... I wanted you. I didn’t want anyone else to have you.”
“What am I going to do?” Volkmar said, an edge of panic starting to overtake his voice. He stood abruptly, pacing anxiously along the length of the table—Vesper watched him curiously, but seemed much less perturbed than either of them. “Where will I go? I don’t—I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
“You can stay here,” Adrissu said quickly, taking a step toward him, to—to what? Comfort him? As far as Volkmar knew, they were essentially strangers. “You will need for nothing. I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”
Volkmar blinked, going still, but Adrissu could practically hear the gears whirring in his mind.
“You bought me,” he finally said—Adrissu expected him to sound angry or upset, but somehow he sounded almost relieved. “You’re... You’re keeping me. Is that it?”
Adrissu frowned. The implication of it was unsettling, but he supposed that, in a way, hehadbought Volkmar.
“Well, yes,” he said slowly. “I bought your freedom. I would certainly like for you to stay here with me, but I will not force you. If you want to go elsewhere, you may. I would be happy to help you either way.”
“I—I don’t know how I could possibly repay you,” Volkmar stammered.
“Not necessary.”
“Are you sure? What will I do?”
“I would love for you to stay with me. And you can do whatever you wish.”
“You bought me,” Volkmar repeated, and to Adrissu’s surprise, he laughed. “Youboughtme. Gods, I wish you would have just told me from the start that’s what you wanted.”
“I... apologize,” Adrissu said slowly, trying not to sound as confused as he felt. “I feared perhaps the prospect would be... unwelcomed.”
“Well, if anyone is going to keep me, you’re certainly at the top of my list,” Volkmar laughed again, and he sat back down at the table to pick at the last piece of cheese that was on his plate. He still seemed nervous, pulling the cheese apart into small pieces rather than actually eating it, but not panicked in the way that he had been a moment ago. “This is... This is fine. This is good. Can I at least go back to get my things?”
“Of course,” Adrissu said quickly, taking another cautious step closer to him. “We’ll go together. I have to bring the rest of the payment anyway.”
Volkmar nodded absently, his smile still lingering. Whatever he was feeling seemed a complete mystery to Adrissu—for all that hewasRuan, he was also a different person entirely. He had felt that fated pull, certainly, but part of him wondered if the differences between them now were too great, if there was any remnant of the man that he had loved there. But he pushed the thought down before it could blossom into worry.
“Whenever you’re ready,” he said softly, looking down at Volkmar’s hands still fidgeting over his food.
Volkmar smiled slyly at him, eyes going dark. “I suppose I’d better earn my keep, then.”
They didn’t leave until later that afternoon, walking quietly back down the path that they had come up the afternoon before. Adrissu had offered him one of his own robes to wear out, but it was far too long for the smaller man, so he kept on his same sheer white robe from the day before.
“Not like I wore it for very long,” Volkmar laughed, looking up at him, and Adrissu relished the faint blush that rose in his cheeks as he said it.
They walked in silence most of the way, but when they turned onto the street where the Garden of Delight stood, Adrissu could feel Volkmar tense, his pace slowing. The human’s hand touched his forearm lightly.
“We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” Adrissu blurted, though he was entirely sure that he could not turn back now, even if he tried. “You can just... go back, if you want.”
Volkmar laughed, though it had a nervous undertone to it now. “That’s not what I was thinking. Truly, what you’re offering me has its appeal. I liked my job, but I did want to eventually leave when I’d paid everything off. I guess I just don’t know what to expect. My friends might be... Well, I don’t know. They could be mad or sad or... anything, really.”
Adrissu wanted to snap that none of that mattered—that they could not be good friends if they were angry or upset with him for such a thing—but he held his tongue. He had to remind himself that Volkmar didn’t know him like Ruan did, even though he slipped too easily into the old rapport that they once had. He was still nearly a stranger to Volkmar, no matter how much burgeoning fondness they shared.
